Dear Melody,
As the editor of North East Bylines I would like to say that our readers thoroughly appreciated having access to excerpts from your diary. In life we often have questions on environmental decisions that we need help with so I’ve had the bright idea of asking you to put pen to paper, or at least your fingers to the keyboard, once again to offer your thoughts on sustainable lifestyles and how we can possibly still have a good quality of life, without burning the planet. We would be very grateful if you could share your indubitable wisdom and wry sense of humour by contributing to a ‘Dear Melody’ eco-agony aunt column.
Many thanks,
Yvonne
Dear Editor,
It would be my absolute pleasure to oblige and a wonderful opportunity for readers of NE Bylines to ask their own questions. A niece of mine has just contacted me with this:
Dear Aunt Melody, my friend wants me to fly to New York for a weekend hen party. Could buying carbon offsets make this environmentally friendly?
Ah, girls just want to have fun and I’m proud of your eco-consciousness attitude for raising the issue of the carbon impact of flying! Jetting off to New York for a hen party for a couple of nights sounds amazing but a round-trip flight from the NE to NY produces about 1.6 tonnes of CO2 per passenger in economy class which is considerable. In perspective, the emissions are roughly equivalent to driving an average car a distance of around 10,000 kilometers. To ease your guilt, you’re thinking about buying carbon offsets. I checked out a few options and the offset costs were around £25 for your flights.
However, most certified schemes involve tree planting, which will take decades to capture the carbon you’d be emitting. They also assume your trees won’t burn in a wildfire, be eaten by pests or get deluged in a flood. This is a bit ominous as I know how bad you are in looking after your own house plants. You’d need to ensure any scheme is verified by a reputable organisation and look for transparency in how the funds are used. The UK Emissions Trading Scheme (UK ETS) carbon price for 2024 was actually £64.90 per tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent. So really you’ll need to invest at least £103.84 and choose an offsetting project which permanently locks away the emissions which is unfortunately nigh on impossible. In short they are generally considered to be a con. An alternative option, as I know you love steak, would be to give up meat and go with a plant-based diet for the year which would reduce your emissions by the same amount.
Anyway, have you thought about celebrating somewhere closer to home? Leicester is a great option. You might not know it, but the city has plenty of pizza places, its own miniature skyscrapers and even a cute replica of the Statue of Liberty. It would be far better for the planet and your purse with the additional benefit of keeping your pounds in England. After recent developments in air traffic control in the US I’m also a tad concerned about stateside aviation safety but maybe I’m just a worrier.
Your loving aunt,
Melody
Ask Melody a question by contacting editor@northeastbylines.co.uk
CLICK HERE TO DONATE TO OUR CROWDFUNDER
HELP US BECOME STRONGER SO THAT WE CAN CONTINUE TO DELIVER POWERFUL CITIZEN JOURNALISM!
